A new study published online in The FASEB Journal reveals a novel gene involved in maintaining body weight. Specifically, the study suggests that GTRAP3-18 interacts with pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) in the hypothalamus to regulate food intake and blood glucose levels. Inhibiting the interaction between GTRAP3-18 and POMC might be a strategy for treating leptin/insulin resistance in patients with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes.

"Eating too much or too little could actually be a genetic problem, rather than an insulin issue," said Toshio Nakaki, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher in the Department of Pharmacology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, in Tokyo, Japan. "Drugs targeting the GTRAP3-18 gene could be therapeutic for obesity or appetite-related disorders."

Nakaki and colleagues analyzed a group of mice defective in the GTRAP3-18 gene. The GTRAP3-18-deficient mice were lean as compared with wild type mice. The leanness was due to neither increased locomotive activity nor basal metabolism, but rather a dysregulation of feeding behavior, or hypophagia. The GTRAP3-18-deficient mice also displayed hypoglycemia.

"This revealing investigation opens a new window on what is likely to be a key regulatory loop in the food intake-weight control axis, with considerable therapeutic potential," said Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal.

Related Stories

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that stimulates hypothalamic neurons to strongly inhibit food intake. Leptin signaling in the hypothalamus, a part of the mid-brain, thus plays a crucial role in the regulation of body ...

A study published online in The FASEB Journal demonstrated that a protein complex (Gbeta5-RGS) commonly known for halting cellular functions may actually stimulate insulin secretion in pancreatic cells. This discovery offers ...

According to research published online in The FASEB Journal, scientists have discovered a dual peptide called "PGLP-1" that promotes insulin secretion and inhibits gluconeogenesis (a metabolic process that produces glucose). ...

The main cause of weight gain, and ultimately obesity, is an energy imbalance in the body triggered by increased food intake, often coupled with reduced energy expenditure. Two hormones called leptin and α-MSH (α-melanocyte-stimulating ...

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have discovered a new mechanism in the mouse brain that regulates obesity. The study, which appears ...

Recommended for you

Investigators have demonstrated how cells of a human intestinal lining created outside an individual's body mirror living tissue when placed inside microengineered Intestine-Chips, opening the door to personalized testing ...

It's intuitive that anesthesia operates in the brain, but the standard protocol among anesthesiologists when monitoring and dosing patients during surgery is to rely on indirect signs of arousal like movement, and changes ...

Scientists have successfully used gene editing to repair 20 to 40 percent of stem and progenitor cells taken from the peripheral blood of patients with sickle cell disease, according to Rice University bioengineer Gang Bao.

Scientists have revealed how mice control their appetite when under stress such as cold temperatures and starvation, according to a new study by Monash University and St Vincent's Institute in Melbourne. The results shed ...

Chernobyl. Three Mile Island. Fukushima. Accidents at nuclear power plants can potentially cause massive destruction and expose workers and civilians to dangerous levels of radiation that lead to cancerous genetic mutations ...

0 comments

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.